How To Be Bad
by Modern Child of Cicero
Summary: Peyton and Brooke take a little road trip to see Brooke's boyfriend in Durham. Haley tags along. Then, some things happen and the girls end up on a bigger trip than what they expected. Miami, here they come! Brathan. Leyton. Chaley. Based on the book.
1. Peyton

1

_**Peyton**_

At the end of June, back when I was still fun, I bought Brooke two tufts of fake armpit hair from the joke shop. She wore them all day. She even kept them on for the double date we had with her boyfriend, Nathan, and his half-brother, Lucas, who is my boyfriend.

The next morning she told me Nathan had stopped breathing for a whole minute when he saw them. I think she was just making the story good. That boy loves her and I'm pretty sure he wouldn't have cared if the fake hair she was wearing came out of her...nose.

Hell, he'd adore her even if it wasn't fake.

I think of this as I pull into my parking spot at Karen's Cafe, where me and Brooke work. The armpit hair, not how Brathan (Brooke's nickname for them, not mine) is the perfect couple. I just think of how fun I used to be and how it easy it was with me and Brooke, making each other laugh and being best friends. After all, we've been through everything: stealing boyfriends, making up rumors, mean girls, dead and absent parents. We're each other's rocks. Now there's something off between us, and I can't stand it. Not to mention Lucas. I haven't returned any of his calls and my texts are pretty curt. I am pushing him away and the distance (which was supposed to be short, considering he is barely 2 hours away) is getting bigger.

Part of it is me, that I can admit. Ever since Karen, who became like a mom to me after mine passed away, found the lump, I haven't been myself. She asked me to go to the doctor with her and of course I said yes. Lucas, her son, had gone off to college in Chapel Hill only two days before that, so I had become the only person she had to lean on. The doctor confirmed it. It was breast cancer. Fortunately, it wasn't bad, at least not now. Karen had me promise her that I wouldn't tell anybody, not even Luke. That was almost two weeks ago. And let me tell you, that is way too much time to walk around pissed off and full of secrets.

But Brooke has also gotten herself into a funk, something I blame on the fact that Nathan also left town for college, around the same time Lucas did. Still, can't she look past her troubles and see that I'm hurting too? It's not like Nate left the country. He barely even left the state, He's in Durham, at Duke. Not in freaking Asia or Africa.

I want my Brooke back. I need my Brooke back.

I cut the engine on my Comet and gear up to go into the cafe, even though Friday is my day off and by all right I should be at home, watching one of those birth stories on Lifetime, where the baby almost dies but is saved at the last second and everyone is full of tears and happiness and second chances. What a blessing.

The midmorning sun burns into my hair. I spot Brooke inside and I can bet she's sweating up a storm. From my parking space I can also see the new girl, Haley. She's been waiting tables for a month, meaning she's got less rank than Brooke or me. But she doesn't act like it. Not that she's out and out rude, but she just watches everyone with her big brown eyes and I can see the thought running through her head, how she thinks she's better than us, like we're so freaking below her.

The deal about Miss Haley James is that she a well-known singer. She's barely eighteen and she already has three records. Three. She is from Tree Hill, but she moved to California when she was twelve to further pursue her music career. This chick made it. She was a teenage singing sensation. Then she decided to just drop it all and move back. For some weird reason I haven't been able to understand. When I asked her when she had just started working here, she said she was just ''tired of it all'' and apparently she also had some '''new priorities''. Like, that's that supposed to mean?

I tug at my cut off shorts and smooth down my Led Zeppelin shirt. I run my fingers through my hair. The one thing I've got on Haley-not that I'm counting- is my blonde, curly hair.

Haley's longish, wavy, light brown hair is cute, but she insists on keeping it in a ponytail 24/7, so she doesn't get anything out of it. Same with her face; pretty, but a touch of mascara and some lip gloss would really help.

Brooke is prettier, and more obvious. She has this awesome straight dark brown hair. When she smiles her hazel eyes crinkle and dimples show. Also, unlike Haley, she is not afraid of some liner. And lip gloss. And mascara. And blush.

The bell on the door jingles as I step into the cafe. The delicious smell of...well, everything, hits me and I feel at home. In a twisted way.

''Hey, Peyton.'' Deb, Nathan's mother, call from behind the register. ''Just can't stay away, can you?''

''That's right. I need my toast burnt just like you can do it.'' I smirk. There's a reason Deb works the cash register.

''Ha ha, very funny. You looking for Brooke?''

''Yeah, where'd she go? I just saw her.'' I wave hello at Karen, who is working inside the kitchen.

''She's outside, taking an unscheduled break. Why don't you go and tell her to get her ass back in?''

''Will do.'' I spot Karen getting out of the kitchen, handling some plates and giving them to Haley. ''Hey, Karen!'' She turns my way and waves slightly. I make some small talk with Deb then I head outside.

I find Brooke in the alley behind the cafe. She has an empty bottle of water and her cell phone. She probably just got off the phone with Nathan. Beside her is Haley. She must've come out while I was talking to Deb.

''P. Sawyer!'' Her smile is big and she looks genuinely glad to see me. Maybe I imagined all the weirdness between us.

''Hi, Peyton,'' Haley says

''Hey,'' I say back. ''Listen, Brooke. I've got an idea.''

''Oh, yeah?''

''An awesome idea,'' I add, thinking of Brooke and Nathan and how she'll jump at the chance to go see him. Nathan and Lucas left early for college because of basketball workouts and some writing courses, respectively. Nathan is a freshman and he's playing shooting guard for the Blue Devils. It's actually pretty cool. Heck, the whole idea of college sounds pretty cool. Brooke and I are just waiting for the time for us to go our separate ways to roll around, which is, like, two weeks away. August 14, oh yes. She's going to New York to study fashion, while I am going to Boston to study music business.

''So, are we going to hear this awesome idea?''

''Right. Well, how's Nathan?''

She looks at me funny, like I'm changing the subject. But I'm not. I'm just warming up to it. ''Busy. Practice starts every morning at six, then they run them again in the afternoon.''

''It's not good,'' Haley says, like she knows what she's talking about ''I can't believe he's only sent her one pathetic text message since he left.''

This is news to me. And I don't like it. Much less the fact that I am hearing it from Haley, of all people.

''That true?''

'''Duke rules. Wish you were here. Love you!''' Brooke sighs. She looks uncomfortable, like she knows she should have told me, not the new girl. ''Whatever, I am not going to be some whiny girlfriend, all freaked out 'cause my boyfriend doesn't call me every night.''

''But how can he not call you? You've been together since sophomore year. You were freaking Prom Royalty!''

''Tell that to him.''

''No, you tell him,'' I say, with determination in my voice. ''Let's go up there and see that ass in person. Duke is only two hours away.''

''Well..''

''B, you know he loves you.''

''How would we get there?''

''Um, I have a car you know?''

She snorts. She's not a fan of my baby.

''Don't be rude. Just think about it: you and me and the open road. We can do whatever we want, whenever we want. For two hours.''

''We already do that, roomie.'' She smirks.

''You know Lucas got the stereo working again before he left so we have music." I take a deep breath. "You can choose if you want to. So, you up for it?''

''I am,'' Haley says. I forgot she was even there. I am speechless. Did anyone ask her to come?

''Come on, Brooke. Have some fun.''

''Who would take my next shift?''

''Mouth said he needed extra cash.''

''Yeah and speaking of-how would we fund this adventure? You probably have like all of twenty bucks. And I've got like ten dollars, since I blew my last paycheck on shoes. We can't go anywhere with thirty dollars.''

''I have way more than that,'' I say, thinking of my hundred and seventy three dollars (with forty cents) hidden under my bed at our condo. ''Besides, how much do we need to spend on two hours? We just need some gas, and snacks. Anyway, what about the forbidden AmEx? You know Bitchtoria will freak when she sees the bill''

"Hm, that could work." Brooke loves pissing her mom off.

''I have money.'' Haley says, meekly. ''I mean, it's not much, but it could easily provide food and/or some gas.''

I give Brooke a look. With the money I have saved, her mother's Visa and Hades'-err, I mean, Haley's money, we can easily afford a whole week. Not that we need that much time, or money for that matter. We don't even have to get a hotel room, we can come back as easy as we can drive up.

''I doubt we'll really need it, but sure, why not?'' I give in.

A smile forms on Haley's lips. Then realization dawns on her, and she looks slightly alarmed that I have accepted her offer.

I turn to Brooke. ''So, what do you say? You in?''


	2. Brooke

2

Brooke

Peyton knows me too well.

Of course I want to see Nate. He left at the beginning of July for early practices. It's been a month. I'm leaving in two weeks and the distance will be so longer, from Durham to New York, than it is now. If this-one text every month- is how its going to be I don't think we'll make it any longer.

I read on a book about Florida that this hundred-pound weakling from Latvia called Ed Leedskalnin, got dumped on his wedding night by his twenty-year-old fiancée Agnes. Then he spent twenty years carving a memorial to her out of coral, working only in the middle of the night. He moved blocks of coral that weighed thousands of pounds, and no one know how he did it.

Now it's a place of unrequited love. Ed Leedskalkin, what a wimp.

If Nathan never calls me, if he never ever calls me again and just goes around humping cheerleaders at Duke like we were never each other's firsts and it never meant all the things we said it meant-to be actually doing it like we might be together forever-and acts like we never built that house of cards on our six-month anniversary, or made our own potato chips in Karen's deep fryer or stayed up all night talking, or like we never used to see each other every day and tell each other everything and text each other nearly every minute we were apart...If Nathan just disappears on me the way that Agnes chick did to the wimp, no way I am building him a coral castle.

I'm not the kind of girl to take shit from a guy. Anyone building coral castles has got to be a real wuss.

Me, I'd just-I'd do something else for sure.

Make him come back.

Force him to remember. How he noticed me sprinkling pepper on my salad to give it some kick. How he noticed me again when I made it cheer captain, on my sophomore year. How he hadn't known that I'd noticed him too, until I slammed hi locker shut one day with barely enough time for him to get his hand out safely, then walked down the hall without a word. How suddenly I wasn't Taylor James' successor, I was something else. How he asked me to come watch a basketball game of his, like I didn't have to go cheer at those every Friday.

''No thanks'' I had told him.

''You don't like basketball?'' Nate asked, raising his eyebrows.

''Not really, but I still have to go every Friday to cheer.'' I smirked and raised my eyebrow slightly. ''It's actually kind of fun to watch''

''Really?'' He was flirtatious.

''The problem is, I spend way too many nights cheering for the team and watching the games. Can we watch a movie instead?''

Nathan laughed. It was the first time I'd seen that huge smile break across his face just for me, and the first time that bouncing laugh had made the room shake because of something I did.

I made up my mind just then that I wanted to make him smile, over and over, every day.

''Yeah, we can watch a movie,'' he sid, but then even before we set a time or figured out what to see, he leaned in and kissed my neck, like he was aiming for my cheek but kind of went astray, and he chuckled lightly while he was doing it, but it felt good, and I could tell he liked me the way I liked him.

This was something real. Not just a date, not just a crush, not just a fling.

So, yes, I will be taking Peyton up on her offer. I miss Nate and I want to drive up to Durham, and when I get there I want to make Nathan remember what it seems like he's forgotten in one month of practice.

Because I know he hasn't forgotten at all.

Peyton's waiting for me ro answer, to say yes or no to her crazy plan. She's starting to look worried and I feel like a bitch.

I know she's sad I didn't tell her right off about what's been going on with Nate since he left for college. Instead, I kept quiet for days and days-and then told Haley.

I don't know why really.

My friends from Tree Hill High-to them Brathan is the perfect couple. Me and Nathan, walking down the hall holding hands. Going to the Halloween dance as Batman and Catwoman. Kissing during assembly. Me and Nathan, all the time.

I don't want to deal with their reactions, even though I know Peyton wouldn't be like the rest of them. I could have told her. Should have told her. She's my sister.

Haley and I aren't really friends, but somehow everything came pouring out of me when she stepped outside to-I don't know what she was doing, really. Watching me have a breakdown.

I feel bad I didn't tell Peyton. There isn't a truer friend than her. But lately, since Lucas left for college for his writing courses, she's been making remarks.

It is really not fun to be around.

Still, here she is, waiting for me to say something, to let her give me a ride.

I gotta love her. Plus, I want to see Nathan so bad it's making my eye twitch. And then she pulls this crap of pretending she wants to go with Haley, which I know she doesn't, like, at all; she's just trying to make me say yes-and I can't tease her anymore.

''What the hell. Let's to this.''

Peyton wants us to leave from Karen's the minute our shifts are over, but I don't want to show up at Nathan's dorm covered in sweat and dirty and sweaty. So we decide that Peyt will go home and do something while I finish then I will meet her there and we'll go pick up Haley, who writes down her address on a napkin and takes my cell number. I think she wants a way to get in touch with me, in case Peyton decides to stand her up.


	3. Haley

3

Haley

''Hey, Taylor,'' I practically yell over the blow dryer, ''You almost done?''

No answer.

I knock on the door. Again. ''Hello?''

''I'm doing my hair!''

''Taylor, I need to take a shower. Can't you dry you hair in your room?''

''I need the mirror!''

''Then take it to you room,''

''Use Quinn's shower,''

''She's using it too. Come on, Tay, please?''

''I'm almost done! Stop being so annoying!''

I sink into the carpet. I feel someone watching me. I look up to see Jamie standing in front of me.

''Can you play with me?''

I shake my head. ''Sorry, Jim. I have plans''

''What are you doing?''

''Going to Durham. That's up north.''

''Oh, sounds fun. Can I go?''

''Nope buddy, it's girls only.''

''Who are you going with?''

''Some friends from work.''''Really?'' He looks shocked. For a four-year-old, he's pretty smart. Let's just say my phone hasn't been ringing off the hook lately. Or ever.

Even Julian Baker didn't call (Not that I expected him to.) Taylor dragged me to some college party of hers and I felt so awkward. So I drank wine coolers. Many, many wine coolers. Then I forgot how uncomfortable I was. Then Julian's tongue was in my mouth. I don't know what I was thinking. Sure, he's cute in a dorky kind of way, but I barely even know him. I'm lucky enough I remember his name. Now I'm the new girl who gets drunk and hooks up with guys at college parties. Super.

Not that we hooked up, hooked up. Maybe I might have done it with him, if things had turned out differently back in California that is.

The West family had been close to mine for years. They had two kids, Damien and Kelly. Damien and I were inseparable growing up. When they moved to Newport Beach the summer we turned eight, my life fell apart (or as apart as an eight-year-old's life can fall). We wrote to each other frequently, but it wasn't the same. But then, when I was twelve, some big shot agents discovered Taylor at a pizza parlor and wanted her to be the new face for their cereal (which tasted like cardoard) So we all packed up and moved to Los ANgeles so Tyalor could have her big break. Ironically enough, she didn't. I did. It was no secret within my family that I had a nice singing voice. But when Taylor's agent heard me singing, he didn't hesitate to sign me to some recording studio. I was a teenage sensation. I recorded three albums, one of which hit gold within two weeks. By the time I was finished with my third album, at age sixteen, I was tired of it all. I needed stability.

Damien had come back into my life when we moved to California. Mrs. West threw us a homecoming barbecue. Needless to say, we became even more inseparable than we were before. Pretty soon we were boyfriend and girlfriend. When I turned fourteen, he wanted to go further in our relationship, physically speaking. And I let him. He was my first everything. Lucky me. I was especially lucky when I caught him in his bed with the girl who was supposed to be my best friend. Good times, good times.

I decided to never let any boy come that close ever again. But things had changed, whether I liked it or not. I made a mistake and had to live with the consequences. But I know that I should live without regrets.

So I do."Bathroom's all yours. Hey, kiddo" She patted Jamie's head.

"Hi, Tay Tay"

"Told you not to call me that."

"Sorry"I watched this exchange with amusement. Taylor has always hated nicknames. And Jimmy James knows it.

I step into the bathroom and take a quick shower. I get dressed and pack some essential into my bag. As I'm drying my hair I hear Quinn's voice. Arguing with Taylor's. Typical. After some more yelling, I hear a door slam. Then another.

I knock on Quinn's door softly,"Qunnie, I'm going to Durham for a few hours. It's your turn to watch Jamie"

She opens her mouth as if to refuse, with a valid argument, no less. But then she closes it"Okay, it's cool. With whom are you going with?"

"Some girls from work."

"That's nice, hales. I'm happy for you"

"Thank you," I hear a horn and I know it's Peyton, because I've heard her many times when she picks up Brooke from work. "That's my cue, gotta go. Love you"

"Love you too, sis. Have fun!"

I laugh as I go down the stairs. I see Jamie on the couch watching some cartoons."Bye, Jamie. I'll be home later."

"You're leaving already?"

"Yep. Sorry, bud"

"But.."

I barely hear him as I go out the door.

I get into Peyton's car. Brooke turns around form the passenger seat and smiles at me."You ready?"

As I'm about to answer, I hear the four letter word coming from Jamie, the one word, coming from the only voice that can both break my heart and fill me up with warmth. This time it's the former.

_Mama_


End file.
